Public Management Development Program Middle Managers' Class Batch 13 Thesis (MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), a bureau under the Department of National Defense (DND), is endeavoring to introduce several reform initiatives to exhibit the agency's commitment in the continuing improvement of its services. Together with its internal reforms, the agency is also strengthening its partnership with other DND bureaus that deliver similar services to the veterans. With the issuance of Department Circular No. 6, entitled "Establishing a unified and integrated pensioners' database management system between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO)," the coordinating activities of these offices became official and are now monitored by the Department to assess the progress of the project. AFP and PVAO have similar pensioners. AFP Retirees reaching the age of 65 years old and their beneficiaries are entitled to pension benefits from PVAO. However, before being granted with PVAO pension benefits, a similar set of documents are required for its adjudication. This step is time-consuming and costly both for the benefit applicants and the government. And if benefit applicants are not properly informed, they can be victims of corrupt practices which can distort the integrity of the procedure and legitimacy of beneficiaries. The Re-entry Project (ReP) entitled "Institutionalization of Standard Procedures in the Adjudication of Pension Claims" aims to sustain the initial deliverables of the Department Circular and incorporate modern day information and communications technology (ICT) opportunities to institutionalize the present procedures of PVAO and utilize current capabilities of the bureaus under DND. The ReP initially established the connectivity of AFP Offices and PVAO inside Camp Aguinaldo by utilizing the Camp Aguinaldo Network (CAGNET) Through the assistance of the Communications Electronics and Information Systems Service of the AFP (CEISSAFP), several offices will be able to utilize their present ICT capabilities and assess their ICT skills and equipment inadequacies that needed to be addressed by the current leadership. The re-emergence of CAGNET capability enabled some AFP representatives to advocate the necessity of strengthening the facility for utilization of offices inside the camp. The recognition of the DND for a need to establish a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Armed Forces of the Philippines Pension and Gratuity Management Center (AFPPGMC) and PVAO will further intensify the foregoing activities of both agencies-the facilitation of AFP Retirees' pension benefits, and the validation of pensioners. As for PVAO, the ReP initiative addressed the need to update the agency's Operations Manual. The meeting with the ReP Support Team produced significant propositions from the end-users which is the creation of two (2) types of manuals- the PVAO Operations Manual and the Work Instruction Manual. These deliverables will be useful both for the employees and PVAO Management as it will be more specific and will conform to the International Organizationfor Standardization's (ISO) Quality Management System (QMS). It also prepares the agency in its pursuit of the ISO 9001:2015 QMS certification in June 2018. PVAO continuously demonstrates its efforts in improving the delivery of its services to its customers and the Re-entry Project deliverables contributed to one of PVAO's objectives- to improve the management of veteran's pension and benefits. With the ReP outputs, a comprehensive review of benefits will be accomplished by (1) utilizing the interconnectivity of the different AFP Offices and PVAO; (2) protecting the PVAO Claims Processors in the performance of their duty through the institutionalized standard processes; and (3) the embarking of other DND bureaus on collaborative activities to deliver the complete services to the veterans and their beneficiaries. As the agency endeavors to evoke the values of "Kagitingan" to every Filipino, the improvement of services is our way of exemplifying our gratitude to our veteran heroes. We want to ensure that their welfare is given much attention, and the memory of their heroism is perpetuated so that present and future generations's lovefor country is rekindled and will be instilled as they witness how the government takes care of the veterans and their families.